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San Sebastian Film Festival · 2012

San Sebastian Film Festival 2012

Very Funny Things

Celebration of the evolution of modern US comedy.

Programme

30 films · 21 reviews

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American Pie

Review preview for American Pie

For a movie that treats penetration with military precision, it is not as radical as it appears. Traditional rites-of-passage sentiments surrounding the Prom remain intact.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5
High-schoolers enter a pact to lose their virginity.

(Country: US; Year: 1998; Director: Paul Weitz, Chris Weitz; Writer: Adam Herz; Stars: Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Tara Reid, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Mena Suvari, Eugene Levy, Alyson Hannigan, Shannon Elizabeth, Seann William Scott, John Cho)

Full review

Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy

Review preview for Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy

This is what used to be known in the sixth form lavs as bike shed humour - infantile male gags about the female anatomy, genitalia, show-off swaggering and sexual innuendos, so broad they flatten subtlety and boil boob gags until they pop.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 2 out of 5
TV news channel farce, with bike shed humour and sexist innuendo.

(Country: US; Year: 2004; Director: Adam McKay; Writer: Will Ferrell, Adam McKay; Stars: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner, Fred Willard, Chris Parnell)

Full review

The Blues Brothers

Review preview for The Blues Brothers

Comes close to redefining cool.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Two sometime blues musicians and petty crooks aim to put on the biggest show of their lives to raise the money to save the orphanage where they grew up.

(Country: US; Year: 1980; Director: John Landis; Writer: Dan Aykroyd, John Landis; Stars: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Carrie Fisher, Twiggy) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan (Borat)

Review preview for Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan

The unconscious is never suppressed and the id runs riot

Anton Bitel · 4.5 out of 5
A fake documentary about a Kazakhstani TV reporter on a cultural mission to America.

(Country: UK; Year: 2006; Director: Larry Charles; Writer: Sacha Baron Cohen, Antony Hines, Peter Baynham, Dan Mazer, from a story by Sacha Baron Cohen, Peter Baynham, Antony Hines, Todd Phillips; Stars: Sacha Baron Cohen, Pamela Anderson, Ken Davitian)

Full review

Bridesmaids

Review preview for Bridesmaids

Don’t be tempted to dismiss it as another fluffy chick flick – this is a film with balls, bite and plenty to appeal to both sexes.

Maria Realf · 4 out of 5
Despite her best attempts to be a model member of the bridal party, an unlucky-in-love singleton finds herself rapidly becoming the ’maid of dishonour’.

(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Paul Feig; Writer: Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo; Stars: Kristen Wiig, Terry Crews, Maya Rudolph, Tom Yi, Elaine Kao, Michael Hitchcock, Kali Hawk, Joe Nunez, Rebel Wilson, Matt Lucas, Jill Clayburgh, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, Greg Tuculescu, Steve Bannos) , Official site

Full review

Caddyshack

A golf course tangles with a skirt-chasing player and a destructive gopher.

(Country: US; Year: 1980; Director: Harold Ramis; Writer: Brian Doyle-Murray, Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney; Stars: Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe, Bill Murray, Sarah Holcomb, Scott Colomby, Cindy Morgan, Dan Resin, Henry Wilcoxon, Elaine Aiken, Albert Salmi, Ann Ryerson, Brian Doyle-Murray, Hamilton Mitchell)

Dazed And Confused

Review preview for Dazed And Confused

This is an ensemble triumph, somehow made all the more amiable by its general lack of earth-shattering incident.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
It's the last day of school and the kids are ready to party.

(Country: US; Year: 1993; Director: Richard Linklater; Writer: Richard Linklater; Stars: Jason London, Joey Lauren Adams, Milla Jovovich, Shawn Andrews, Rory Cochrane, Adam Goldberg, Anthony Rapp, Sasha Jenson, Marissa Ribisi, Deena Martin, Michelle Burke, Cole Hauser, Christine Harnos, Wiley Wiggins, Mark Vandermeulen)

Full review See: Interview with Richard Linklater

Dude, Where's My Car?

Review preview for Dude, Where's My Car?

Dude, what's the point of this movie?

Angus Wolfe Murray · 1 out of 5
Teenage wasters... and a car.

(Country: US; Year: 2000; Director: Danny Leiner; Writer: Philip Stark; Stars: Ashton Kutcher, Sean William Scott, Jennifer Garner, Marla Sokoloff, David Herman)

Full review

Dumb And Dumber

After a chauffeur falls for a woman he is driving to the airport, he enlists the help of his dimwitted buddy to try to give a briefcase she has forgotten back to her.

(Country: US; Year: 1994; Director: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly; Writer: Peter Farrelly, Bennett Yellin, Bobby Farrelly; Stars: Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Lauren Holly, Mike Starr, Karen Duffy, Charles Rocket, Victoria Rowell, Joe Baker, Hank Brandt, Teri Garr, Brady Bluhm, Cam Neely, Felton Perry, Brad Lockerman, Rob Moran)

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Review preview for Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Finding out that your girlfriend is leaving you for another man is humiliating enough, but finding out that he's Russell Brand is another story.

Craig McFarlane · 3 out of 5
Trying to get over his girlfried, a depressed young man goes on holiday only to discover that she's booked into the same resort with her new love.

(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Nicholas Stoller; Writer: Jason Segel; Stars: Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand, Bill Hader, Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

Funny People

Review preview for Funny People

The film lacks strong enough dialogue to do justice to the boldness of its script.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
A popular comedian has to re-evaluate his life when he discovers he has cancer, but things don't go the way he expects.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Judd Apatow; Writer: Judd Apatow; Stars: Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, Aubrey Plaza) , Official site , Trailer

Full review See: Adam Sandler, Judd Apatow, Leslie Mann and Jonah Hill talk Funny People at press conference

The Hangover

Review preview for The Hangover

This film makes a number of intriguing choices.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
After a drunken stag night in Vegas, nobody can remember what happened - and the groom is missing.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Todd Phillips; Writer: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore; Stars: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Heather Graham, Sasha Barrese, Jeffrey Tambor, Ken Jeong, Mike Tyson) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

Happy Gilmore

After being knocked out of the hockey league, a man turns to golf to get cash for his gran.

(Country: US; Year: 1996; Director: Dennis Dugan; Writer: Tim Herlihy, Adam Sandler; Stars: Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen, Frances Bay, Allen Covert, Robert Smigel, Bob Barker, Richard Kiel, Dennis Dugan, Joe Flaherty, Lee Trevino, Kevin Nealon, Verne Lundquist, Jared Van Snellenberg, Ken Camroux)

Idiocracy

Review preview for Idiocracy

A film well worth seeking out, or rediscovering, if you like stupid films that are actually made by very clever – and very funny – people.

Jeff Robson · 3.5 out of 5
A soldier who took part in a hibernation programme reawakens to discover he is the most intelligent person left alive.

(Country: US; Year: 2006; Director: Mike Judge; Writer: Mike Judge, Mike Judge, Etan Cohen; Stars: Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, Terry Crews, Anthony 'Citric' Campos, David Herman, Sonny Castillo, Kevin McAfee, Robert Musgrave, Michael McCafferty, Christopher Ryan, Justin Long, Heath Jones, Eli Muñoz, Patrick Fischler)

Full review

Lost In America

A middle-class couple decide to quit work and take a caravan roadtrip across America.

(Country: US; Year: 1985; Director: Albert Brooks; Writer: Albert Brooks, Monica Mcgowan Johnson; Stars: Albert Brooks, Julie Hagerty, Sylvia Farrel, Tina Kincaid, Candy Ann Brown, Maggie Roswell, Hans Wagner, Brandy Rubin, Michael Greene, Tom Tarpey, Robert Hughes, Raynold Gideon, John Di Fusco, Michael Cornelison, Radu Gavor)

Meatballs

Struggles of a youngster at summer camp

(Country: Canada; Year: 1979; Director: Ivan Reitman; Writer: Len Blum, Daniel Goldberg, Janis Allen, Harold Ramis; Stars: Bill Murray, Harvey Atkin, Kate Lynch, Russ Banham, Kristine DeBell, Sarah Torgov, Jack Blum, Keith Knight, Cindy Girling, Todd Hoffman, Margot Pinvidic, Matt Craven, Norma Dell'Agnese, Chris Makepeace, Michael Kirby)

Napoleon Dynamite (Napoleon Dynamite - Special Edition)

Review preview for Napoleon Dynamite

The movie is eccentric and wild in one respect and positive and cool in another.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
In praise of small town high school losers who discover their skills.

(Country: US; Year: 2004; Director: Jared Hess; Writer: Jared Hess, Jurusha Hess; Stars: Jon Heder, Jon Gries, Aaron Ruell, Efren Ramirez, Diedrich Bader, Tina Majorino, Sandy Martin, Haylie Duff, Shondrella Avery, Trevor Snarr)

Full review

A Night at the Roxbury

Review preview for A Night at the Roxbury

The script has been tatooed on a fingernail. It is so small, you need binoculars.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 1 out of 5
Two losers dream of opening the coolest night club in town.

(Country: US; Year: 1998; Director: John Fortenberry, Peter Markle; Writer: Steve Koren, Will Ferrell; Stars: Chris Kattan, Will Ferrell, Dan Hedaya, Molly Shannon, Richard Grieco)

Full review

National Lampoon's Animal House

Review preview for National Lampoon's Animal House

'Pedestrian' is too racy a word to describe it.

Martin Gray · 1 out of 5
Grandaddy of teen gross-out comedies takes a chainsaw to college frat house conformity.

(Country: US; Year: 1978; Director: John Landis; Writer: Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney, Chris Miller; Stars: John Belushi, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna Bloom, Tom Hulce, Stephen Furst, Karen Allen, Cesare Danova, Peter Riegert, Mary Louise Weller, Kevin Bacon, Donald Sutherland)

Full review

Pineapple Express

Review preview for Pineapple Express

What you expect from a bunch of stoners, but done well enough so you won't care.

Scott Macdonald · 3.5 out of 5
Stoner comedy about a dude and his dealer on the run.

(Country: USA; Year: 2008; Director: David Gordon Green; Writer: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Judd Apatow; Stars: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Danny McBride, Kevin Corrigan, Craig Robinson, Gary Cole, Rosie Perez, Ed Begley Jr., Nora Dunn, Amber Heard, Joe Lo Truglio, Arthur Napiontek, Cleo King, Bill Hader, James Remar) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

Porky's

High schoolers try to lose their viriginity, with comic consequences.

(Country: Canada, US; Year: 1982; Director: Bob Clark; Writer: Bob Clark; Stars: Dan Monahan, Mark Herrier, Wyatt Knight, Roger Wilson, Cyril O'Reilly, Tony Ganios, Kaki Hunter, Kim Cattrall, Nancy Parsons, Scott Colomby, Boyd Gaines, Doug McGrath, Susan Clark, Art Hindle, Wayne Maunder)

Punch-Drunk Love (Punch Drunk Love)

Review preview for Punch-Drunk Love

There are similarities to the work of David Lynch and Jocelyn Moorhouse, but this is something entirely fresh.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Adam Sandler is a disturbed loner in a blue suit who is full of fear and suppressed rage

(Country: US; Year: 2002; Director: Paul Thomas Anderson; Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson; Stars: Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Luis Guzmán, Ashley Clark, Jason Andrews, Don McManus, David Schrempf, Seann Conway, Rico Bueno, Hazel Mailloux, Karen Kilgariff)

Full review

Revenge Of The Nerds

A group of bullied misfits fight back.

(Country: US; Year: 1984; Director: Jeff Kanew; Writer: Tim Metcalfe, Miguel Tejada-Flores, Steve Zacharias, Jeff Buhai, Steve Zacharias, Jeff Buhai; Stars: Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards, Timothy Busfield, Andrew Cassese, Curtis Armstrong, Larry B. Scott, Brian Tochi, Julia Montgomery, Michelle Meyrink, Ted McGinley, Matt Salinger, Donald Gibb, James Cromwell, David Wohl, John Goodman)

Road Trip

Disaster comedy sees a group of friends travel the country to try to get back a sex tape mistakenly sent to a girlfriend.

(Year: 2000; Director: Todd Phillips; Writer: Todd Phillips, Scot Armstrong; Stars: Breckin Meyer, Seann William Scott, Amy Smart, Paulo Costanzo, DJ Qualls, Tom Green, Rachel Blanchard, Anthony Rapp, Fred Ward, Andy Dick, Ethan Suplee, Horatio Sanz, Rhoda Griffis, Marla Sucharetza, Edmund Lyndeck)

Rushmore

Review preview for Rushmore

What gives this film an edge over conventional rites-of-passage movies is its oddity.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5
Comic look at life in a private school.

(Country: USA; Year: 1998; Director: Wes Anderson; Writer: Wes Anderson; Stars: Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams, Seymour Cassel, Brian Cox, Mason Gamble, Sara Tanaka, Stephen McCole, Connie Nielsen, Luke Wilson, Dipak Pallana)

Full review

Smiley Face

Jane F, an unsuccessful slacker actress, inadvertently eats her roommate's pot cupcakes and proceeds to have a very strange day of hijinks and surreal misadventures.

(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Gregg Araki; Writer: Dylan Haggerty; Stars: Anna Faris, Roscoe Lee Browne, Danny Masterson, Ben Falcone, Adam Brody, Brian Posehn, Rick Hoffman, Matthew J. Evans, Davenia McFadden, Joey Diaz, Jim Rash)

Superbad

Review preview for Superbad

I honestly wish I'd written this movie, and I suspect a handful of people my age feel the same way.

Scott Macdonald · 4.5 out of 5
An ode to friendship in the final night of high-school leads to a party never to be forgotten.

(Country: USA; Year: 2007; Director: Greg Mottola; Writer: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg; Stars: Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bill Hader, Seth Rogen, Martha MacIsaac, Emma Stone, Aviva Farber, Joe Lo Truglio, Kevin Corrigan, Clement Blake)

Full review

Very Bad Things

Review preview for Very Bad Things

The ensemble playing is on a level of communication that hardly requires a script, flowing like sick down the front of a summer dress.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
Things get nasty for a group of friends after a prostitute is killed on a stag night.

(Country: US; Year: 1998; Director: Peter Berg; Writer: Peter Berg; Stars: Christian Slater, Cameron Diaz, Daniel Stern, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Jon Favreau)

Full review

Whip It

Review preview for Whip It

Drew Barrymore's directorial debut blasts in some girls who just want to have fun - and you'll be happy to join them.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
A bored suburban girl discovers a new way to live when she attends a roller derby and meets a tough team of competitive skaters.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Drew Barrymore; Writer: Shauna Cross, based on her novel; Stars: Elliot Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Juliette Lewis) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

Zoolander

Review preview for Zoolander

The humour exaggerates the worst excesses of Saturday Night Live.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 1.5 out of 5
Ben Stiller spoofs the fashion world and adds on a political assassination subplot.

(Country: US; Year: 2001; Director: Ben Stiller; Writer: Drake Sather, Ben Stiller, John Hamburg; Stars: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Christine Taylor, Jerry Stiller, Milla Jovovich, Jon Voight. Billy Zane)

Full review